The Ghost of the Past

Med

The first thing Jay became aware of was the beeping, even over the ringing he still could hear in his ears. The second was the pain through his shoulder, back, arm and leg. He struggled to remember why he hurt so much but then remembered he had to find Hailey still. He opened his eyes and threw his legs over the side of the bed. Without hesitating he tried to stand but his legs wouldn’t hold his weight.

Adam was in the bed next to Jay while he slept. Kevin had been taken for a CT scan to confirm a concussion. The cast on his leg felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. He heard Jay moving but was surprised when Jay suddenly got up out of bed and fell to the ground. 

“We need help in here!” Adam called out feeling useless, stuck in the bed. Several nurses hurried into the room followed quickly by Dr. Choi. 

“What happened?” Choi asked Adam. 

“He was sleeping then all the sudden he jumped out of bed and fell like a rock.” Adam explained trying to see past Jay’s bed to see what was going on.

“I’m ok, I just stood up too fast. I need to find Hailey.” Jay tried to push the nurses away. The room continued to spin uncomfortably.

“Halstead, Hailey is fine. Squad were able to get her out of the wreckage and she had surgery to remove the spike. She’s in the other room.” Choi explained while flashing his light in Jay’s eyes. “I’m going to help you up into bed to check you out now that you are awake. I swear I will take you to see her if you cooperate.” 

Dr Choi helped Jay to sit up and made him stay there for a few seconds while April raised the head of the bed to a sitting position. Jay rubbed his ears hoping against hope the ringing would stop. Choi and April helped Jay to stand and slid him right into the bed again being careful of his arm in the sling. 

“We had to medicate you to get the shrapnel out of your back, that’s why you’re disoriented. You had four chunks of metal that had to be removed. We also stitched your thigh and arm. Your shoulder was dislocated but Adam told us how you put that back in yourself. Your arm will be in the sling for a few days then physio will assess it. You keep rubbing your ears Jay, what’s going on?” Choi stopped his explanation as he observed his patient.

“Everything is dull and they have both been ringing since the explosion. To be honest, it’s driving me nuts.” Jay admitted and laid his head back on the pillow. Dr Choi grabbed the ear light off the wall to look in Jay’s ears. 

“You’ve ruptured your ear drums. I will get ENT to come have a look at them.” Dr Choi frowned as he looked in Jay’s ears. He did a quick assessment for blood pressure and temperature before double checking that Jay did not have any internal injuries that had not been identified. When he finished his assessment he asked April to grab a wheelchair.

“Can I go too?” Adam asked, pushing himself up higher on the bed. “I want to see Kim and Hailey too.” 

“Just for a few minutes, then you are both back in bed.” Choi raised his eyebrows at the two police. Choi wheeled Jay into the next room while April grabbed a second wheelchair. Jay felt a woosh of relief when he saw Hailey. She was pale, lying on the bed but smiled when she saw him.

“I should have known all that commotion next door was you.” Hailey smiled wider. Jay didn’t respond but took her hand and kissed her palm before laying her hand on his face. He was afraid if he let go, it would turn out to be his imagination and she wasn’t really there. Hailey saw the fear in his eyes and stroked his face. “You were worried about me?” 

“Always.” Jay admitted. He wanted to lean in and kiss her but was afraid he would fall out of the chair, he was so disoriented from the meds. He stroked her face and pushed her hair back, forgetting about everyone else in the room for the moment. 

“It’s ok, Jay. I’m going to be ok. Thanks to you we all are.” Hailey kept her hand on his face seeing his need for physical contact to prove she was alright. Jay remembered Kim and Adam were there and for a second felt embarrassed. Then he realized he really didn’t care who saw him so vulnerable. He took a breath before tearing his eyes away from Hailey and over to the other bed. 

“It’s good to see you awake Kim. You had me worried.” Jay gave her a half smile. 

“Concussion, some stitches in my head, broken ribs and arm. Severide told me it would have been far worse if you hadn’t pulled me out from the wreckage. Thank you.” Kim smiled at him. 

“I just happened to be the least injured when the blast went off. Any of you would have done the same.” Jay glanced down at Hailey’s soft smile again.

“Right, Jay. I watched you put your shoulder in. That was some pretty hardcore stuff.” Adam raised his eyebrow. Voight hurried into the room with concern on his face. He was relieved to see four of the five team members apparently on the mend. 

“Thank God you are all ok.” Hank breathed a sigh of relief. He looked out into the hall as an orderly was bringing Kevin back from his scan. “Can you bring him in here for a minute?” 

The intelligence team all looked at Voight with curiosity. He was clearly worried about them but also extremely agitated. 

“I owe you all an apology. I underestimated Lawrence and I shouldn’t have done that. I put you all at risk. You are all on medical leave. I have officers posted on these two rooms until Lawrence and Malony are caught, they were clearly working together. I will work around the clock until I can get these two off the street and it will be safe for all of you to come back.” 

“And you will have whatever detectives and officers you hand pick to help you with that goal until your team has recovered from their injuries and are ready to work again. Do not rush to come back until you are one hundred percent recovered.” Samantha Miller had walked up behind Hank as he had made his apology. He stepped aside and lowered his head. She turned and addressed him. “I am placing you on protective custody. You have two choices, I can put you into witness protection or you stay at the district until we find these offenders.”

“I won’t be leaving the district until these animals are found anyways but any support you can give me until my team is ready to go again will be appreciated.” Hank nodded to her. 

“I’m afraid, all my patients need to get back into their beds. If you all want to recover, you need rest.” Dr Choi stepped into the room interrupting the conversation. He had the orderly and nurses bring Jay, Adam and Kevin back to their beds and checked them all before leaving them.